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July 20 is Marina Day. In France, every day of the year has a saint's name associated with it. If you share the name of one of the saints, that is your name day. Every year since I started studying French and learned that this was a thing, I have treated July 20 (the fête of Sainte Marina) as a mini-birthday party, a gala of 'treat yo self', a celebration of my delightful self.

I found myself in the midst of a polar vortex for my birthday this year, at the tail end of visit to my family in the Midwest. In the midst of record-breaking amounts of snow, I decided to throw a small party with hints of Spring. There would be roses, punch, and lots and lots of streamers. When I was a little girl, my idea of [ ... ]

"Welcome! You can put your coat on the bed, food and drinks are in the living room, and don't forget to sign the guestbook!" This is how I greeted my guests at my recent Housewarming Party, and pretty much everyone gave me a puzzled look, wondering if they had heard me correctly. They had [ ... ]

A dear friend’s 30th birthday was approaching. To celebrate reaching the end of her 20’s, she decided to have a Roaring Twenties party. She has mad mixology skills, so a major highlight of the evening would be the specially selected, Prohibition Era cocktails. To prepare for the evening, she had [ ... ]